The Mississippi State track and field teams saw action in Philadelphia, Penn., Thursday through Saturday for the 112th Penn Relay Carnival.
College and high school teams were in action for the three-day event.
MSU track and field has always done well in the past at the event. Last year, the Bulldogs came home with third-place finishes in the 4×200- and 4×400-meter relays.
Kendall Pyant II finished fourth in the long jump (23-10), while Matt Denton tied for seventh in the high jump (6-08).
In women’s action, four Lady Bulldogs posted top 10 finishes.
In the discus, Crystal Averitt met an NCAA regional qualifying mark throwing 156-08. In 2004, Tiffany McWilliams ran the second fastest time ever at the Penn Relays in the Olympic Development Mile en route to a regional qualifying mark and a win (4:31.31).
On the first day, school records were being shattered. Junior Joy Griffith ran the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:35.31 seconds but still finished 10th in the event. The previous record was 10:46.04, held by Meggan Hodge. The women’s distance medley squad of Jen McPherson, Antrese Banks, Andrea Wahlin and Zita Magloire ran 11:22.01 to take seventh place overall in the Championship of America Flight. Their time is second best in school history. In other action on Thursday, Hodge finished 18th in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:58.00. Emily Sanders continues to add on to her freshman record, throwing a 133-07 in the javelin throw.
On Friday more records continued to fall, as McPherson, followed by Griffith, Magloire and Annie Falor ran a school-best 18:9.43 for a sixth place finish in the 4×5000-meter relay. The Bulldogs were the first SEC school to cross the line, trailing only Stanford, Villanova, N.C. State, Duke and Providence. Arkansas came in almost a minute later, 19:01.21.
A majority of the men saw action that day. Bruce Davis, Ezra Jones, Nathan Daniels and sophomore all-American Elzie Coleman took second in their heat of the men’s 4×400 relay, finishing with a regional-qualifying time of 3:08.40.
“The 4×4 win was a big one,” MSU head coach Al Schmidt said. “They finished off the weekend well-and without Arthur Davis (who was away from the team at his mother’s wedding). The middle distance squad had a great week.”
Tim Williams placed seventh in the high jump by clearing 6 -8.25. Janelle Finlay was a foot off the freshman record in the triple jump with a leap of 38-02.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs continued to make more magic. Davis, Jones, Daniels and Coleman won the finals of the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:6.54. McPherson, Magloire, Wahlin and Liz Grube ran their second best time of the season in the Championship of America event, 8:48.59, to place 12th.
Both squads are back in action May 11-14 for the SEC outdoor track and field championships in Fayetteville, Ark.